


The Path to Forever

by TinyToffeeBean (toffeebean)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-08 05:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8832241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toffeebean/pseuds/TinyToffeeBean
Summary: Alex wants Kara to have it all, love, a commitment, a marriage.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the prompt: 
> 
> Leave a “Wed Me” in my ask, and I’ll write a drabble about a character under the subject of wedlock [be it characters proposing to or marrying another, feel free to specify.]

Alex knew this would happen one day. Kara was always interested in human customs and the concept of marriage was one of her favorite topics when she was younger.

She’s always wanted Kara to have everything she wanted, and if marriage ever came up as an option in Kara’s life, Alex wants to be there to support her through it.

She just never thought the topic would show up like this.

“I forgot,” Kara groans, sitting sideways on the couch with her legs underneath her. Alex had quickly sat in the armchair because Kara has a habit of lying her legs on anyone who sits next to her when she is nervous and they can get heavy if she doesn’t focus on making them lighter. 

It’s their weekly sister night (with an addition of Lena). Lena’s been coming to sisters night for the last few months and while at first, Alex was perplexed and slightly frustrated, she’s grown to admire her (it also helps that Lena chips in to help feed Kara, bringing pizza and potstickers with some ice cream on big days. Alex can’t count the amount of money she’s saved now that Lena is their friend). 

The technology Lena makes, and the additional security measures she brought to the DEO, help endear her to Alex even more.

Now Alex and Lena can be considered tentative friends, bound by loyalty to Kara and the need to keep Kara’s secret (this is the most important because Alex isn’t sure how many more people Kara decides is  _ need to know _ and Alex makes a mental note to talk to Kara about what  _ need to know _ means.)

Citizenship lingers in everyone’s thoughts, especially now that apparently Kara has forgotten to file the necessary registration that’s due tomorrow but needs two weeks to process. Without it, under the newly enacted Alien Accountability and Social Stability Act (termed the “Ass Act” by the more social and politically conscious persons in the room), Kara could be deported or detained indefinitely for “security interests”. 

Alex thinks that those in charge were waiting for Kara to make a mistake like this for awhile, after the Red Tornado incident and especially after Cadmus. 

“I can’t believe I forgot to turn it in.” Kara slowly shifts her legs to lie on Lena’s and Alex watches as Lena absently strokes Kara’s knee. Lena looks towards Kara, her brow already furrowed in concentration and Alex can see an idea starting to form in her mind. 

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have done it for you,” Alex insists (Kara makes these mistakes frequently and while she is used to covering up Kara’s mistakes, there are times she wishes she didn’t have to). 

“I was just so busy, it slipped my mind,” Kara explains frantically and she reaches for Alex’s plate with her half eaten pizza absently. Before Alex can blink, the plate is empty and Kara’s cheeks are full as she chews. 

“I guess I'll have to marry you then,” Lena says suddenly as she shrugs her shoulders. For all her nonchalance, Alex notices Lena’s hands are clenched around her cup nervously. 

“No, no.” Kara blushes and shakes her head furiously, making her glasses almost fly off her nose. “Marriage is.... I couldn’t. Impose. Like that.” The crust on the second pizza slice is torn in fragments on her plate.

“Oh,” Lena hums, “you would be doing me a favor, really. No one wants to marry a Luthor anyways, Kara. It would be nice to be married to a friend.” 

Even Alex can sense Lena means something else when she says  _ friend _ and she wants to say something comforting because Lena is already looking away, uncharacteristically unconfident. She opens her mouth to say something like  _ oh Lena, don’t talk like that, some day you’ll meet someone who is sweet and caring and  _ not _ my sister _ but aghast at such a horrid train of thought, Kara is already taking away Lena’s cup and placing it on the table. 

“That’s silly, Lena,” Kara insists, gently grabbing Lena’s hands and turning towards her so she can look into Lena’s eyes. “Anyone would be lucky to be married to you.”

“That’s sweet, Kara, but we all know that’s not true. I haven’t even gone on a date since I moved to National City,” Lena continues, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Alex glances between the two of them rapidly, trying to figure out what to say because she can’t be the only one who sees what’s happening here, can she? 

“ _ I _ would take you out on a date.” Kara clamps a hand over her mouth as soon as she realizes what she’s said and even Alex grimaces at the awkwardness of it. Lena stares at Kara in shock before she starts to laugh. 

“Thank you,” Lena says earnestly, patting Kara’s knee, “but I know the truth.” Lena’s voice takes on a teasing tone as she continues. “You would need someone like me to be able to afford everything you eat.”

Kara laughs and after a brief moment, Lena joins after a fond glance towards Kara. Alex looks between the two of them, confused on how the two of them could get their signals crossed so miraculously  _ wrong _ . 

She had never thought of Lena as dumb. She’s seen Lena in her element, glasses on her face as she crouches underneath the DEO’s main computer frame with a screwdriver in her mouth. She’s talked to Lena about physics and medicine. She knows Lena is brilliant. 

Kara is not conventionally booksmart, her attention span too short to focus on anything that requires her to sit for long hours. Instead, Kara excels in social interaction, easily ripping through people’s defenses and making close friends wherever she goes. 

Alex can’t understand why both don’t see that they both harbor the same feelings for each other but she is reminded of her own first awkward encounters with Maggie and thinks  _ oh. I remember this. _

The hope of something more but the fear of losing a friendship and the confusion of whether or not it’s worth it. 

If she thinks about it carefully (without thinking of Kara as her  _ sister _ ), she can’t see a better match for Kara than Lena. Lena is kind to Kara, always making sure Kara feels secure and safe. She is stubborn but also quick to apologize if she realizes she’s in the wrong (the amount of potstickers she kept sending to CatCo after finding out Kara was Supergirl to apologize for the alien detection device was astonishing, even to Alex). Most of all, she always makes time for Kara and Supergirl.

Alex had always thought that she would take care of Kara as long as she lives but as she watches Lena laugh as Kara steals the last piece of pizza and Kara’s soft smile when she carefully places half of that slice with an extra pepperoni onto Lena’s plate, she realizes Lena has already taken part of that responsibility (not a burden, never a burden). 

Alex gets up and shoves Kara’s legs off of Lena (“Alex, what are you-”) before sitting between the two of them and drags the two of them close to her in a soft hug. Kara settles in fast, used to Alex’s sudden hugs and while Lena is still at first, Lena also relaxes into Alex’s embrace.

The three sit like that in silence until Alex chuckles and leans back. 

“So what do you guys want to watch today?”

She loves these two hopeless dummies. As excited as she is to see their relationship develop before her eyes, she imagines it to be a long journey for them. 

The next morning, Alex turns on the news and finds, “CEO of L-Corp, Lena Luthor, announces engagement with CatCo Reporter, Kara Danvers.”

She rushes to her phone and calls Kara, who stubbornly refuses to answer. 

As she waits for Kara to respond, she remembers the way Lena had looked at Kara the night before, all wonder and awe, and she smiles. She takes out her phone again to write Lena a message.

Alex: Hey Lena. I saw the news. Welcome to the family.


	2. Oceans of Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fake dating sounds like fun, if only she wasn't so desperately in love with her.

When Kara first arrived on Earth, she used to watch romantic comedies with Alex. She grew to love the romance; the building of a friendship that slowly transitions into a love, the shy glances of uncertainty and doubt, and finally, the sweeping proposal of forever.

Her ventures into dating weren’t quite as formulaic (or successful) but she likes to think she understands love.

“Bye Alex.” Lena looks back and waves from the couch as she watches Kara hug her sister goodbye. She hides her laughter when she sees Alex wince from Kara’s excitement and starts to carry the dishes to Kara’s sink for the two to wash later.

Lena always makes it a point to help Kara clean up after their get-togethers. Life with the Luthors’ has always been about earning your keep and old habits die hard. It took a while for Kara to grow comfortable with letting Lena help but they now fall into their roles easily.

“I was serious, you know,” Lena murmurs as she carefully washes the plate. Kara starts and snaps the handle off the cup she’s drying. The cup clunks into the sink.

“Oh no,” Kara groans as she picks up the cup and comically tries to force the handle back on. Naturally, it refuses to reattach, and she lamely puts it onto the counter. “This was your favorite cup,” she mourns.

Kara had bought the cup for Lena on a whim when Lena first started coming over, a gift she hoped would show Lena she was welcome without making her uncomfortable. It stands out among Kara’s other (much more colorful) cups but Lena had taken to it immediately. Four months later and only Lena uses it.

“Kara.” Lena dries her hands and gathers Kara’s hands in hers. “Kara, forget about the cup. It doesn’t matter.”

Kara relaxes at Lena’s touch and allows Lena to guide her to the couch, dishes forgotten.

“I want to marry you,” Lena quietly implores as she places a hand on Kara’s leg. Kara almost (barely) starts to smile but Lena continues. “To protect you.”

It feels like cold water is being poured onto her.

She knows trying to protect her is the worst thing for Lena. She’s unknowingly derailed Alex’s life for so long under the benefit of Alex’s protection and she doesn’t want that for Lena. This mess is entirely of her doing, her own failings.

“It’ll work out.” She says it with all the confidence of Supergirl, voice strong and unwavering. She smiles brightly but Lena looks far from convinced. It’s been awhile since Kara can fool Lena and while Kara enjoys their friendship, she longs for the days Lena could be more easily dissuaded.

“Alex said that the government already knows who you are. That they’ve always known.” Lena sounds worried and Kara curses her sister in her head as she tucks her legs under her body in a show of nonchalance. While she enjoys Alex’s and Lena’s easy friendship, she misses the days where the two would stare at each other in ill-disguised suspicion.

“It’ll work out,” Kara repeats and hides her wince when her voice shakes and Lena raises her eyebrow in disbelief.

Truth is, she’s afraid of what this act would do. She has no idea what the government plans on doing to her after they detain her, but she imagines it’s not good. She still remembers the way Astra screamed as General Lane shoved kryptonite into her neck, her broken demand of “is this who you choose to side with?” ringing in her ears.

She started to lose faith in the government after that day. The world is changing and while she wants to believe that General Lane’s actions weren’t sanctioned by the government, she knows deep down that’s not true.

She had advocated strongly for the Alien Amnesty Act in a misguided attempt to assuage her own guilt after the Red Kryptonite incident and Myriad, but perhaps she was mistaken. There is something brewing in National City, a hatred she turned a blind eye to, a fear she helped create.

She loves humans; she wants everyone (aliens and humans alike) to live in harmony but she now knows it’s not possible. There are some humans that fear aliens and wish them gone and there are some aliens who don’t want to share this planet. She treads a dangerous line, trying to play both sides and this Alien Accountability and Social Stability Act was introduced because of her actions. Social stability is another word for _human_ rights and in this light, she is just as alien (foreign) as the aliens in the bar. She had forsaken the people (her people, _aliens_ ) to serve her own agenda and for that, this is the price. Scorch was right; amnesty _was_ another word for registration and in all her hard fought idealism, she was too heavy handed to see the truth until it was too late.  

She’s willing to go along, turn herself in, and accept the repercussions of her own failings. The friends that can help her are now dangerously little. Lucy is gone, reprimanded for helping her, and sent away to some foreign underground bunker where not even Kara can find her. She’s unwilling to let Lena take the consequences in a city that already distrusts her.

She’s lost so much, a world and a culture in one explosion. There are days she thinks maybe she’s the catalyst, that her “help” is merely postponing an end, that she’s the true cause of so much destruction.

“Kara. Let me help you. Please.”

It’s Lena’s tone, soft and pleading, and the gentle squeeze of Kara’s knee, that makes Kara contemplate Lena’s proposal seriously. She briefly considers marrying someone (anyone) else, someone who Kara doesn’t hopelessly dream about. Maybe Winn or James, she thinks, but Lena is looking at her with such worry and pleading and how can she say no to her? Kara knows Lena is too used to hearing no, knows that this tentative outreach from Lena took courage. Even though Lena sounds completely sure, Kara can hear the pounding of Lena’s heart, unusually loud and quick.

Kara wants to grab at the escape Lena offers. She always wants more than what she has. It’s her greatest sin, this desire for a normal life.

“I’ve already thought of a plan,” Lena begins, eyes brightening and Kara hides a small smile behind a fake cough. She’s always liked the way Lena looks when she hatches a plan, prideful and confident.

Kara turns to give Lena her full attention. “Tell me.”

“I’ll throw a press conference tomorrow to announce our engagement. It’ll make sure that you’re always in the public spotlight. The government can’t touch you if everyone wants to know more about Kara Danvers. It’s the perfect solution.”

It’s not the proposal Kara had always imagined but probably the best she’ll ever get. Her romantic life hasn’t been exactly spectacular and she’s well aware not many people want to marry her (her secret identity and her busy job as a reporter will always be in the way) and she thinks maybe she has that in common with Lena.

Lena had said it would be nice to be married to a friend and maybe she’s right. Better a marriage with a friend (Lena) than losing her home forever.

She pretends she doesn’t wonder what marrying Lena would be like, different aspects of Lena she will be able to see and instead focuses on the desire to save herself.

It’s a race against time and Kara so desperately wants to win.

“Okay,” Kara agrees after a soft sigh. “Tomorrow.”

//

The next morning, Kara makes her way towards Lena’s office while Lena is at the press conference, sneaking away before Snapper realizes what the announcement is. While she is still technically the L-Corp liaison, this will probably be the last time she’ll be sent to L-Corp as a reporter and she wants to enjoy it while she still can.

Kara waits inside Lena’s office, searching through the small bowl of candies on Lena’s desk. Lena started this habit a few months into their friendship, the candies precisely picked out with Kara’s favorites. She grabs a handful and then sits down, unwrapping and popping one in her mouth. She shoves the rest into her purse for safekeeping, next to her beeping phone, and throws the wrapper away before nudging her glasses back onto her nose when she hears Lena’s heels making their way down the hall.

“How did it go?” Kara asks cautiously as soon as the door closes. She can tell it went poorly from the crinkle between Lena’s eyes and the unusually fast pace of Lena’s heart.

“They don’t believe me.” Lena pours herself a cup of water and moves to sit. “They don’t think anyone can fall for someone like me.”

“That’s not true,” Kara is incredulous, flailing her hands outwards to make her point. “I-I…” She stops abruptly because she remembers how, despite her righteous anger, Lena most definitely does not want to hear about all the things Kara loves about her.

She doesn’t know when she fell in love with Lena. It was a slow process, until one day she looked over at Lena laughing with Alex and it felt right, in a way nothing really had before.

“It’s okay, Kara,” Lena interrupts Kara’s thoughts easily and Kara can see how Lena’s face is blank, a practiced smile on her face.

Kara hates that smile, now more than ever. She sees the way it wears down on Lena, the constant skepticism and disbelief that National City has of her and while Lena never complains, she wishes she could do something to help.

“It’s not okay,” Kara murmurs and she reaches out to grab Lena’s hand. It’s slightly clammy, a sure sign that Lena’s far more upset than she says she is. “We’ll have to show them.”

“How?” Lena’s fingers twitch before lacing between Kara’s guardedly, as if Lena is testing to make sure it’s okay for her to touch Kara like this before they relax into Kara’s warm hold.

Kara squeezes Lena’s hand gently. “Let’s go on a date.”

Lena stares at her for a minute before a blinding smile starts to grow. “Alright.”

//

They agree to meet the next evening at a restaurant Kara picks out, one Cat Grant swears by. Lena looked perplexed when she heard the name but it’s expensive and grand and guaranteed to have some paparazzi by the front doors looking for their next scoop. In short, it’s perfect for what Kara and Lena need.

She lands a few blocks away and after self-consciously smoothing down her one semi appropriate dress she has, she takes a deep breath before she enters.

The hostess looks her up and down inquisitively but valiantly keeps a smile on her face as she escorts Kara to where Lena is already waiting, a candle lit on a small table near the back. She sips from a glass of wine as she gazes out of the window.

“Hi,” Kara whispers, anxiously sitting down in the seat that’s been pulled out for her. “Were you waiting long?”

“Kara. Thank you for coming.” Lena smiles, dark and somehow hungry, and Kara wonders what she would be willing to give to have Lena look at her like that without it being a ruse (The answer is anything. She would give up anything.)

“Of course,” Kara responds and quickly looks around. She’s been to places like this before, late nights picking a stumbling Cat Grant up from bad dates, but she’s never actually gone inside. It’s everything Kara thought it would be, beautiful, quiet. And uncomfortable.

Two waiters appear silently with a bread basket and glasses of water that they place on the table carefully. Kara plucks out a piece of bread, still steaming from the oven, and butters it generously.

“Where’s the menu?” Kara asks as she glances over the table. She shoves the bread in her mouth quickly, making the perfect inadvertent imitation of a chipmunk, and Lena looks away before she can laugh. Kara drinks some water, her cheeks tinged pink.

“The menu is pre-set,” Lena explains.

“Oh. Right.” Kara flushes but bobs her head in understanding. “I knew that,” she insists.

She’s never been so grateful for how bad human eyesight truly is. It’s only five minutes in and she’s already feeling out of place.

They sit in silence. Kara searches for things to say, topics they can talk about that doesn’t reference Supergirl or her job because she’s sure Lena’s dates are far more well-rounded than she is. She can’t think of anything and instead grabs another piece of bread from the basket in the middle of the table.

“You must have flown here,” Lena teases quietly, obviously trying to break the silence with a comment meant to relax Kara. It backfires when Kara starts to choke and Lena’s eyes widen.

She’s sitting in a restaurant with someone like _Lena_ , choking on water because she suddenly doesn’t know how to chew. If there was a time when Kara understands how profoundly different she is from Lena, alien status withstanding, this would be it.

She finishes choking guided by some careful pats on the back by Lena and while she’s grateful, she’s mortified as well.

She sees clearly how Lena is slumming it with someone like her, someone who can’t afford places like this. It’s a far cry from their usual haunts, places with the theme of “cheap with large portions”. Lena looks like she belongs in a place like this and Kara can’t even drink water without making a spectacle.

Kara wonders if Lena ever felt out of place, if Lena ever felt forced to go to places Kara showed her. She worries that might be the case, that perhaps their friendship never was as strong as Kara felt it was.

This date is a disaster. If Kara ever had any hope that they could ever belong in the same world, it’s gone now.

“You don’t have to be nervous. It's just me, Kara,” Lena murmurs, gingerly putting her hand on Kara's. Kara attempts to discreetly pull her hand away but she can tell it fails by the way Lena pulls her hand back. She wishes she was better equipped to comfort, to be able to say what Lena needs to hear, but she can’t.

She’s torn from her thoughts when a waiter materializes next to their table to rest two salads in front of them.

“This is our charcoal grilled cauliflower, accompanied with fresh apples and Persian cucumbers, topped with sauteed morels and served with a sabayon of pistach--” The waiter stops when Kara immediately spears the “salad” and tilts her head in confusion at how the entirety of the dish fits onto one forkful. Balking momentarily, he valiantly attempts to keep explaining, encouraged by Lena’s nod, but Kara pops it in her mouth before he can finish. They both stare as she looks forlornly at her now-empty plate, attempting to appear like she’s not starving.

“That sounds really good,” Kara chirps earnestly and the waiter nearly smiles before she finishes, “so when does all of that get here?”

He hesitates at the empty plate in front of her and Kara glances at Lena’s untouched dish before understanding.

“Oh.” She gently rests her fork on the edge of the plate. It’s taken away by the second waiter before she can blink. “It was really good,” she tries to say but the first waiter is too flustered and rushes off with a hurried _I’ll bring a wine bottle, Miss Luthor, I’m so sorry._

Lena is smiling but for how long, Kara wonders. This plan Lena so meticulously thought up will surely fail under Kara’s clumsy adjustment to Lena’s world.

“I’m really sorry,” Kara murmurs.

“It’s fine, really.” Lena smiles gently and nudges the now-refilled bread basket towards Kara. Kara is too nervous to eat and instead picks at the bread.

The wine bottle appears (swiftly uncorked and decanted at the table, its label presented with great flourish) with profuse apologies.

“I appreciate it, thank you,” Lena says gracefully and after the waiter leaves, she shows the label to Kara.

“You should take a picture of it,” Lena suggests and Kara squints at the bottle. It’s a wine she’s never seen before. “I think Alex would like it.”

Kara takes a picture, making sure to frame the entire bottle. She adds some filters, a few flowers around the bottle, and sends it off. She’s admiring her work (and the way Lena can be seen in the background, with a mischievous smile) when she’s distracted by a soft ding and she opens Alex’s flabbergasted message informing Kara the bottle goes for at least three hundred dollars.

Kara’s eyes grow wide and she turns to show Lena but Lena is already looking at her, eyes soft and welcoming. Kara shows her the text.

“Oh, it’s more than that,” Lena laughs.

Kara wonders what it’s like to be so at home in a place like this. While Kara can’t deny the deliciousness of the food, the atmosphere is stifling.

The next few dishes continue the same way. Each time, Kara waits for the waiter to finish his introductions, trying to ignore the way her stomach growls between the long waits after each plate disappears.

She wants this to be over as soon as possible so she can mourn the loss of this chance in the privacy of her apartment, away from Lena’s prying eyes and soft hands. Kara turns down dessert, and Lena’s eyebrows arch in surprise before she asks for the check.

Kara peeks a glance at the check and winces at the amount. She doesn't know why it would be so expensive when she's still so hungry but she reaches into her purse. She's left dumbfounded, hand still digging through the many wrappers and pens, when Lena plucks the check out of her hand and gives it to a passing waiter with a soft _thank you_ after placing her own credit card inside.

“Lena,” Kara protests and when she tries to pull out some bills to hand to Lena. Lena glares playfully. “Come on, this was my idea.”

“It's my turn,” Lena says, folding her napkin and placing it on the table. “You paid last time.”

Kara ponders the truth of that statement as Lena finishes paying and starts to escort Kara outside.

“I have a car waiting already,” Lena murmurs into Kara’s ear and Kara suppresses her shiver as she nods.

When she walks outside, lights flash in front of Kara’s eyes and she startles, nearly firing her eyes at the nearest camera. She looks down at her feet, trying to blink away the disorientation when Lena tangles their fingers together. Kara looks up to see a fierce glare settle on Lena’s face before Lena pulls Kara towards the car cautiously.

She helps Kara in before climbing in herself and they both heave a sigh of relief. Kara turns to her to apologize but she catches Lena gazing at her with affection and she blushes instead.

“Are you hungry?” Lena asks suddenly, breaking the silence that’s been between them since the start of this date. “Because I am. Those plates were so small, you know?”

Kara’s stomach gurgles in response and she rests her hand on her stomach in mortification. Lena smirks before asking the driver to take them to the Chinese restaurant Kara frequents.

“Lena, it’s okay. We can go anywhere you want. Or nowhere at all. I-you don’t have to force yourself. With me, I mean,” Kara rambles and Lena tilts her head in confusion. “Actually, why don’t I get off here and just fly home,” she continues and moves her hand to the door handle in an attempt to jump out of the still moving car.

“Wait, Kara,” Lena murmurs, placing her hand on Kara’s arm. Kara freezes in place. “If you want to get out, I won’t force you to stay but what _I_ want to do is eat Chinese food with my friend. If you don’t want that, at least wait until the car stops before jumping out because I don’t want someone saying I pushed you out.” Her tongue appears to wet her lips before Lena smiles in a teasing way.

“No,” Kara’s voice cracks before she clears her throat. “No, I want that too.”

Lena hums in response before pulling her hand away and Kara stares at where Lena’s hand used to rest until she stops thinking about how warm it was.

//

“I’m sorry for the mess,” Lena calls as Kara rests the food on top of what appears to be Lena’s dining room table. The table can comfortably sit at least six and Kara wonders if Lena ever entertains others, if she is the first one allowed through these doors. She pushes aside her jealousy because she has no claim to Lena, and she will _never_ have a claim to Lena.

It’s her first time actually inside Lena’s penthouse and she curiously looks around. She’s immediately struck by how little personal effects Lena has, so different from her own. She assumes the mess Lena warns her about is the pile of work papers left on top of a table, the only thing that implies someone lives here.

She imagines Lena coming home to this empty house devoid of any comforts. The kind Kara would usually surround herself with.

To Kara, a home is a sanctuary and Lena's penthouse feels like a museum.

When she hears Lena making her way back from her bedroom, Kara hurriedly starts taking out the food and barely finishes after using her superspeed. She attempts to look innocent but judging by the look on Lena’s face, she is unsuccessful.

“Thanks for paying for the Chinese food.” Lena sits down at the table and Kara chooses a seat across from Lena after Lena’s pointed look.

“No problem,” Kara replies and tries a fast wink. “It was my turn to pay.”

After they finish eating, Lena leads Kara to her couch and Kara is reminded by the previous night, how Lena tentatively laid out a plan for them to follow.

Kara’s defenses are low when her stomach is full. Lena’s house smells like Lena and the feel of Lena’s leg pressed up against hers lulls Kara into a stupor.

“You should move in with me,” Lena proposes, producing a key that she presses into Kara’s palm, the silver glimmering brightly under the lights. A small Supergirl keychain dangles from it and Kara smiles as she touches it carefully. “It's for my place,” Lena adds rather redundantly.

“Wait. This keychain!” Kara interrupts and Lena pauses. “This is the 2015 limited edition! I didn’t know you bought this stuff,” she exclaims cheerily, missing the way Lena blushes.

Lena bought that keychain on a whim when she walked by a souvenir shop one afternoon. It was absurdly priced, and obviously for tourists, but she smiled imagining the look on Kara’s face if she had seen how much her merchandise sold for. Lena purchased it anyways, sliding it onto a spare key she never planned on using. And now here she was, handing them over to the same women she thought about when she had originally bought it.

If she was the kind of person who believed in destiny, she thinks it would exist in moments like this, within small possibilities that somehow stretched for light-years across galaxies and worlds, atomic seeds of hope existing in a thousand universes that only bloom inside one.  One year after a fleeting whim in a gauche shop full of inelegant trinkets, Lena hands Kara the keys to her apartment and pretends to not be amazed at the miracle of their friendship.

“Let’s focus, Kara,” Lena blusters and Kara nods her head in agreement. Lena continues before Kara can get distracted yet again. “I think we should live together,” Lena continues. “To sell it more,” she adds quickly, missing Kara’s frown.

The feeling of warmth Kara took from the keychain evaporates.

“Yes, definitely,” Kara agrees flimsily.

Lena had spoken so eloquently at the press conference about falling in love with a best friend and how she’s so very lucky to have Kara in her life. Living together would be the next obvious step after a speech like that and truthfully, after such a disastrous date, Kara knows they (she) needs to be more careful.

“Unless you would rather not move in?”

Lena trails off mid sentence self consciously. There is a slight wavering of her voice and Kara looks up to see Lena focused on looking outside her windows. Kara wonders absently what Lena can see, if the stars shine as brightly for her as it does for Kara.

Logically, it would be easier and more convenient to move into Lena’s place. It is spacious and positioned in a far safer neighborhood. It’s also closer to both their workplaces, and would cut down at least fifteen minutes of Kara’s commute time. It’s selfish to even consider Lena moving into Kara’s place, regardless of how much Kara loves that apartment. She loves the memories she’s built, time spent there with Alex and her friends, her joy at her first job, her struggles being Supergirl. She doesn’t want to give it up.

“No, of course not,” Kara responds, picturing Lena moving all of her belongings in Kara’s significantly smaller place. It’s laughable.

“I’m glad you agree.” Lena finally looks up to meet Kara’s eyes and Kara wishes for the first time that mind reading was one of her abilities. She hasn’t been able to read Lena’s eyes since Lena’s offer the previous night. She doesn’t know if Lena is regretting her offer, if Lena even wants to open her home. She opens her mouth to ask, but she can’t because there’s a part of her that’s afraid of the answer. For all her bravery as Supergirl, it fails her now.

“Are you sure?” Lena asks and Kara understands instinctively what Lena is asking. _Are you sure you’re ready? Are you sure you want to be married to me?_

Kara grabs Lena’s hand and gives the only answer she can.

“Yes.” 

She knows this will be difficult. She hasn’t lied to Lena since she told Lena she was Supergirl and she doesn’t want to lie to her now. She knows she must, however, and she swallows her guilt to settle in her stomach. Her true affections can only show when they are on display. She imagines there will be a lot of heartbreak in the months ahead but with Lena's hand in hers, it's perfect all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr @ tinytoffeebean


End file.
